[StargateRecords]

 

I purchased these earphones specifically for my pocket rig, I was looking for something that could be used every day and my buying requirements were simple. First they needed to cost less than £30, and second they needed to sound as good as the stock set from Sony which, as stock earphones go, sound pretty impressive. I was reluctant to pay more than £30 as they were going to be used solely for my pocket rig and would therefore take quite a battering.

I had never tried Sound Magic earphones before and the E10's had only just been released so there were no reviews to guide my decision. Despite being a little over my budget I decided to take a chance and I purchased them from HiFiHeadphones for £34.99 they arrived the next day well packed and with a free Chupa Chups!

Inside the box were three sets of single flange black eartips; small, medium and large, one set of double flange eartips, a nice black draw-string pouch and the earphones. The colour scheme also factored into my decision to purchase these earphones. I really like the red cable and aluminium housing, they look great and I can find them easily in low light, which saves me using starglow paint.

In the image below you can see how well made these earphones are, the aluminium casings are machined and finished to a very high standard. The body of the driver casing measures just 12 mm excluding the eartip stem, and they are 10 mm wide. Inside the earpiece there is an interwoven grille to protect the membrane and located on the outside are two airflow ports. The cable is good quality, almost impossible to tangle and transmits very little noise.
 

I decided to test the E10's with a track called Magic Sunset Street from the album Housego Remixes by Yoshinori Sunahara using a flat equaliser. The first thing that hit me was how detailed the E10's are. The best way I can describe the sound quality is like this. Imagine you are going to a night club, as you approach the building you can hear the dampened bass resonating through the walls but nothing more (my iPod stock earbuds), then as you enter the building and walk down the corridor the bass becomes much more tighter and you can hear the mids and treble clearly (the Sony stock earbuds), finally at the end of the corridor you reach the door to the club, you open it and... boom, the bass hits you, thump thump thump thump, very tight and controlled, everything is clear and detailed, you feel as though you are in the music.

From what I have heard so far, straight out the box, I would have to say these earphones are excellent value for money and they have far surpassed my expectations. Based on my buying requirements alone; a good sounding budget set of earphones costing less than £30, I would give them 10/10 for sound quality and 10/10 for design and build quality. For a more technical description of the sound quality and photos of the packaging please read ClieOS review here, and visit Sound Magic using the link on the right.


 

 

[sulkoudai]

Thanks man.

 

[trog]

Hi i have the cheaper Soundmagic PL11 for 24/7 portable use and love em! How do these compare to the PL11s? Thanks for the review 

 

[StargateRecords]

 
You're welcome. I haven't tried the PL11, so I cannot comment. There's a more technical E10 review here, if you are interested.
 

 

[trog]

Cool and thanks again - the other review also seems to think this one's a very value for money IEM 

 

[H20Fidelity]

You know...SoundMAGIC E10 were my first entry level IEM after finding out about them on Head-fi. Since then I have bought several other IEM's such as Visang RO2, Monster Turbine, Yamaha EPH-100, TF10 plus many more seen in my profile. 

Today I was searching for something, I decided to pull my E10 back out for a quick listen, only to find myself lost for the next hour. I have to say even though I have moved up in the world of IEM's these little buggers still hold such a great sound in comparison to everything else I own. I know when I found them I had stumbled upon something special but to hold their own against higher IEM's like Turbines, Yamaha EPH-100 makes these really special, especially at their asking price. They may not be better than some of my IEM's but when you compare the price difference and extra $$$ you lay for that little more clarity or seperation E10 blow away others with a price/sound ratio.

I know why these became best for a budget buy. I could happily live with the sound of E10's and never worry anymore about another purchase. They truly are amazing for the money, I have heard other IEM's in the $100-$150 price range that are much poorer than E10. They do everything right and do not try to be anything they're not.

These will be staying plugged into my player for days to come. 

 

[EGO DEATH]

You know...SoundMAGIC E10 were my first entry level IEM after finding out about them on Head-fi. Since then I have bought several other IEM's such as Visang RO2, Monster Turbine, Yamaha EPH-100, TF10 plus many more seen in my profile.

Today I was searching for something, I decided to pull my E10 back out for a quick listen, only to find myself lost for the next hour. I have to say even though I have moved up in the world of IEM's these little buggers still hold such a great sound in comparison to everything else I own. I know when I found them I had stumbled upon something special but to hold their own against higher IEM's like Turbines, Yamaha EPH-100 makes these really special, especially at their asking price. They may not be better than some of my IEM's but when you compare the price difference and extra $$$ you lay for that little more clarity or seperation E10 blow away others with a price/sound ratio.

I know why these became best for a budget buy. I could happily live with the sound of E10's and never worry anymore about another purchase. They truly are amazing for the money, I have heard other IEM's in the $100-$150 price range that are much poorer than E10. They do everything right and do not try to be anything they're not.

These will be staying plugged into my player for days to come.

Made me laugh and shake my head at this whole audiophile thing, mostly evolution playing tricks after all.

By the way did you ever try the zen by VE? If so, what do you think?